Jost Van Dyke Trip Report - "47 hours in Heaven"
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 8:14 am
I haven't done my Trip Report for St John yet but did want to post a report from our time on Jost. It's long and detailed; but please read and enjoy!
So now we've been on St John for 8 wonderful days. Leaving this time wasn't toooo hard. WHY?? Because our last 2 nights are on Jost Van Dyke! This was absolutely the best 47 hours I've had since I can remember. Here we go....
First off we are traveling on Inauguration Day and it is being well celebrated in the Islands!
Obama t-shirts on everyone!! I listened to a new Barak Obama rap song. "bo ROCK o BAMA; bo ROCK o BAMA"; heard it over and over again, and kept humming it while trying to fall asleep that night. 
We arrive in West End Tortola and on through Customs. We move over to the side of the building to catch the ferry to Jost. I'm out front looking at the ferry schedules trying to figure out the best way to get back to STT on Thursday. This nice man asks if he can help me. Well he's our Ferry Captain, Casey...............a former bartender at Soggy Dollar. He gave me perfect instructions for getting back & catching the ferry.
"I take care of you no problem". He is also my new hero! In my embarrassment of not knowing what I'm doing I shake Casey's hand step backwards and stir up a family of chickens/roosters/babies. They scramble all over the place while Casey and his friend are laughing at me.
Ugh.........
We get on the ferry amidst boxes of rum, wine, more rum, all kinds of supplies! Trip over is great no problems. Get to Great Harbor and well today IT'S HOT, NO BREEZE. So no one is there to meet us, did they say they would be?? I don't know I might at this point have probably lost it. My travel planning mode left me somewhere back at Maho the week before. My head is swimming in blue water; and I am so hot I'm ready to jump in clothes and all. (By the way I'm a woman in my early 50's
).
Casey suggests that I take the luggage wait in the shade and he'll take Mike to get the jeep. Off they go, and the rest of this story is from Mike (I wasn't there). Paradise Jeep is closed. How do we know, well the door is shut and Casey keeps beeping but no one comes out. "Well GD'it I know the owner" he told Mike, so off they go to the Customs House. More beep beeps and Casey hollering into the building......Hey so & so where's Estelle???? Out comes the Customs Officer asking Casey what he wants. He explains and the officer responds "Oh Sh$$, I bet she went home to watch the Inauguration & fell asleep. I'll call her Aunt..................she'll get her back down here". Oh, and "HEY (pointing to Mike in the passenger seat) he go through customs"? Casey said "na, he a Bandito"
and he takes off!! Meanwhile they make a quick stop at a little market and Casey insists on buying Mike a cold drink. They watch the Inauguration for a bit on the ladies TV, then decide Estelle should be at the Jeep rental office by now. Casey would not leave Mike until he made sure we had the jeep. Thirty minutes later they show back up, laughing like old friends. We'll buy him a couple of beers at Foxy's later that night. 
The Jeep Rental Office & Gas Station
<a href="http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00126.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00126.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
We're already trying to put together a family tree. EVERYONE on this island is related. I heard the word "cousin" more times in those 47 hours that I could count.
Cooling off in our little Suzuki or whatever it was we head to The Sea Crest Inn. I am too hot to climb the steps and find the entrance. After knocking on a door and waking up a guest (how embarrassing) Mike is pointed in the direction of the office. Then he wakes up Patsy the caretaker. DOES EVERYONE ON THIS ISLAND SLEEP ALL AFTERNOON?? 
She leads us up to the room & it's wonderful. I will do a review on the BVI forum. Patsy was a very sweet lady and very accommodating.
The Sea Crest Inn - we were on the 2nd floor
<a href="http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00122.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00122.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
We turned on the A/C, I took a cold shower then we're off to Foxy's Taboo and the Bubbly Pool! The roads on Jost are amazing! Aside from a couple of cave-ins and rockslides they are great!! NO speed bumps, concrete trucks, or dump trucks!! The view is awesome and we're having fun exploring the island. Lunch at Taboo is good, really good. Mike had her burger; which has a great Mango sauce on it, yumm. I ordered the chicken shish kabob with a Pico de Galo on it. A couple of cold beers, a nice breeze, and a VIEW!! WOW, we are finally here.............our little 2 day getaway with NO PHONE; I repeat NO PHONE!!
We are getting ready to head to the bubbly pool (by the way aside from some locals the restaurant is empty) when 6 obnoxious drunks from a boat pile in not asking but DEMANDING to know where the bubbly pool is, how to get there, etc. Two of the guys want to take her menu that has directions pointed on it. They were so rude and LOUD, well she was actually a little shaken after they left. Well she won't budge sends them on their way and Mike & I decide to forget it. I'm not sharing the bubbly pool with that group. We did drive part way down and one of the ladies was puking in the bushes................ GOOD CHOICE MIKE & JAN
We never did get there, NEXT TRIP FOR SURE!
We got some video but no pictures from our drive about, and learned of a couple of customs. You stop on the road to talk to everyone, and if you're behind just chill or go around. Also you should offer anyone walking a ride. On STJ people hiking point to the road. On Jost they stop and wait for you to offer the ride. We met so many folks this way, and again.........everyone knows everyone and is related.
Main Street looking West
<a href="http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00115.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00115.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Main Street looking East
<a href="http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00117.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00117.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Late afternoon nap then dinner at Foxy's. The food was better than I expected. Mike had fresh red snapper and I had barbecue ribs. They were pretty crowded and the whole atmosphere was very festive. 
Inauguration coverage was booming on the flat screen TV, and right beside the TV was a donkey decorated in red, white, & blue!! The guy told me it was his "Democratic" donkey and he wanted to be part of the celebration. Mike ran back to the room to get the camera and OF COURSE, as soon as I got up poof donkey all gone! The guy said it had been a busy day for him and he was tired. Sent him home to bed. We spotted Casey and bought him a couple of beers. We walked through downtown Jost (hee hee hee) and headed over to the beach. Everything is shut down at 9:00. We sat on the big dock for what seemed like hours, talking and laughing. Watching all the cruisers head back to their boats in the dinghy's. They can really pack some people in those inflatables!! Later back on our balcony we watched one group of 6 circling around and around...............they couldn't find their boat! 
A big cheer erupted when they did, what fun!
Tomorrow I fall in love with White Bay, Soggy Dollar, and a bartender named Mic...............
So now we've been on St John for 8 wonderful days. Leaving this time wasn't toooo hard. WHY?? Because our last 2 nights are on Jost Van Dyke! This was absolutely the best 47 hours I've had since I can remember. Here we go....
First off we are traveling on Inauguration Day and it is being well celebrated in the Islands!
Obama t-shirts on everyone!! I listened to a new Barak Obama rap song. "bo ROCK o BAMA; bo ROCK o BAMA"; heard it over and over again, and kept humming it while trying to fall asleep that night. We arrive in West End Tortola and on through Customs. We move over to the side of the building to catch the ferry to Jost. I'm out front looking at the ferry schedules trying to figure out the best way to get back to STT on Thursday. This nice man asks if he can help me. Well he's our Ferry Captain, Casey...............a former bartender at Soggy Dollar. He gave me perfect instructions for getting back & catching the ferry. "I take care of you no problem". He is also my new hero! In my embarrassment of not knowing what I'm doing I shake Casey's hand step backwards and stir up a family of chickens/roosters/babies. They scramble all over the place while Casey and his friend are laughing at me.
Ugh.........We get on the ferry amidst boxes of rum, wine, more rum, all kinds of supplies! Trip over is great no problems. Get to Great Harbor and well today IT'S HOT, NO BREEZE. So no one is there to meet us, did they say they would be?? I don't know I might at this point have probably lost it. My travel planning mode left me somewhere back at Maho the week before. My head is swimming in blue water; and I am so hot I'm ready to jump in clothes and all. (By the way I'm a woman in my early 50's
).Casey suggests that I take the luggage wait in the shade and he'll take Mike to get the jeep. Off they go, and the rest of this story is from Mike (I wasn't there). Paradise Jeep is closed. How do we know, well the door is shut and Casey keeps beeping but no one comes out. "Well GD'it I know the owner" he told Mike, so off they go to the Customs House. More beep beeps and Casey hollering into the building......Hey so & so where's Estelle???? Out comes the Customs Officer asking Casey what he wants. He explains and the officer responds "Oh Sh$$, I bet she went home to watch the Inauguration & fell asleep. I'll call her Aunt..................she'll get her back down here". Oh, and "HEY (pointing to Mike in the passenger seat) he go through customs"? Casey said "na, he a Bandito"
and he takes off!! Meanwhile they make a quick stop at a little market and Casey insists on buying Mike a cold drink. They watch the Inauguration for a bit on the ladies TV, then decide Estelle should be at the Jeep rental office by now. Casey would not leave Mike until he made sure we had the jeep. Thirty minutes later they show back up, laughing like old friends. We'll buy him a couple of beers at Foxy's later that night. The Jeep Rental Office & Gas Station
<a href="http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00126.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00126.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
We're already trying to put together a family tree. EVERYONE on this island is related. I heard the word "cousin" more times in those 47 hours that I could count.
Cooling off in our little Suzuki or whatever it was we head to The Sea Crest Inn. I am too hot to climb the steps and find the entrance. After knocking on a door and waking up a guest (how embarrassing)
Mike is pointed in the direction of the office. Then he wakes up Patsy the caretaker. DOES EVERYONE ON THIS ISLAND SLEEP ALL AFTERNOON?? She leads us up to the room & it's wonderful. I will do a review on the BVI forum. Patsy was a very sweet lady and very accommodating.The Sea Crest Inn - we were on the 2nd floor
<a href="http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00122.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00122.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
We turned on the A/C, I took a cold shower then we're off to Foxy's Taboo and the Bubbly Pool! The roads on Jost are amazing! Aside from a couple of cave-ins and rockslides they are great!! NO speed bumps, concrete trucks, or dump trucks!! The view is awesome and we're having fun exploring the island. Lunch at Taboo is good, really good. Mike had her burger; which has a great Mango sauce on it, yumm. I ordered the chicken shish kabob with a Pico de Galo on it. A couple of cold beers, a nice breeze, and a VIEW!! WOW, we are finally here.............our little 2 day getaway with NO PHONE; I repeat NO PHONE!!
We are getting ready to head to the bubbly pool (by the way aside from some locals the restaurant is empty) when 6 obnoxious drunks from a boat pile in not asking but DEMANDING to know where the bubbly pool is, how to get there, etc. Two of the guys want to take her menu that has directions pointed on it. They were so rude and LOUD, well she was actually a little shaken after they left. Well she won't budge sends them on their way and Mike & I decide to forget it. I'm not sharing the bubbly pool with that group. We did drive part way down and one of the ladies was puking in the bushes................
GOOD CHOICE MIKE & JANWe never did get there, NEXT TRIP FOR SURE!
We got some video but no pictures from our drive about, and learned of a couple of customs. You stop on the road to talk to everyone, and if you're behind just chill or go around. Also you should offer anyone walking a ride. On STJ people hiking point to the road. On Jost they stop and wait for you to offer the ride. We met so many folks this way, and again.........everyone knows everyone and is related.
Main Street looking West
<a href="http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00115.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00115.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Main Street looking East
<a href="http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00117.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p267 ... C00117.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Late afternoon nap then dinner at Foxy's. The food was better than I expected. Mike had fresh red snapper and I had barbecue ribs. They were pretty crowded and the whole atmosphere was very festive.
Inauguration coverage was booming on the flat screen TV, and right beside the TV was a donkey decorated in red, white, & blue!! The guy told me it was his "Democratic" donkey and he wanted to be part of the celebration. Mike ran back to the room to get the camera and OF COURSE, as soon as I got up poof donkey all gone! The guy said it had been a busy day for him and he was tired. Sent him home to bed. We spotted Casey and bought him a couple of beers. We walked through downtown Jost (hee hee hee) and headed over to the beach. Everything is shut down at 9:00. We sat on the big dock for what seemed like hours, talking and laughing. Watching all the cruisers head back to their boats in the dinghy's. They can really pack some people in those inflatables!! Later back on our balcony we watched one group of 6 circling around and around...............they couldn't find their boat! A big cheer erupted when they did, what fun! Tomorrow I fall in love with White Bay, Soggy Dollar, and a bartender named Mic...............
